Chantelle Cameron: Chasing Victory & So Much More

Chantelle Cameron: Chasing Victory & So Much More

Chantelle Cameron is unbeaten in eighteen professional fights. She is the undisputed light-welterweight champion of the world. Cameron is also the only fighter to inflict a defeat on the professional resume of Katie Taylor. And even more impressively, she did it in Ireland. But yet, the immensely talented Northampton fighter still doesn’t get the recognition her talent and achievements deserve.

Despite that historic win over the iconic Irish superstar on that emotional night in May, Cameron feels she still hasn’t got the credit the victory deserved. It was the fight she always craved. A fighter who doesn’t want to avoid the fights that come with real jeopardy. Cameron practically hunts them down. Fights that excite her. Fights that will test her. Fights that will enhance her own legacy. In many ways, Chantelle Cameron is a rare breed.

Back in May, in that cauldron of sound at the 3Arena in Dublin, Cameron wasn’t expected to win. Make no mistake, she ruined a lot of plans when she ruined the fairytale homecoming of the Irish hero. The insanely vocal faithful never stopped trying to roar Taylor on to a famous victory. But Cameron was inspired, despite her own slightly harsh critique of her own performance. Taylor looked distinctly rattled as Cameron unleashed her own brand of pugilistic bullying upon her. I even thought that Taylor might even get stopped on home soil as those early rounds went away without too much reward and no little pain.

Taylor rallied quite brilliantly and heroically in the closing stages. But Cameron had done enough in those crucial early rounds to seal her victory. The three judges saw it a little closer than most. One even scored it a draw. A truly horrific distortion of reality. And a big worry for the rematch tonight. Cameron will know that she will likely have to win even more emphatically second time around. Boxing might be subjective. But it is also an excuse many roll out to try and disguise something else.

“My worry is that I will go back to Dublin, and I will get robbed this time. I beat Katie on her big homecoming, and you could tell there were a lot of broken hearts.” Cameron told me a few weeks after her win over Taylor. You sense, Cameron knows what is needed. Even if there is no doubt, Cameron still can’t leave anything to chance.

Cameron has battled many things in a sport that has often tested her far more outside of the ring than any opponent has ever done inside the squared circle. The disrespect that she still feels from everything surrounding the first fight has only lit even more of a burning fire inside her. Cameron is the champion in this fight, a little fact that many seem to forget and ignore, but she has come back to Dublin with a challengers mentality. Beating Katie Taylor once isn’t enough. She wants to do it again and prove that the first time was no fluke because her opponent just had an off night. This time, Cameron, you feel, is coming with even more venom attached to her punches.

Both know a victory will move them forward to more of the same. Taylor will almost certainly rematch Amanda Serrano, and Cameron will undoubtedly target the winner of Natasha Jonas and Mikaela Mayer, who fight early next year in Liverpool. A win is paramount for both, but almost certainly more so for Cameron. A sport that hasn’t always been kind to her will likely give her more of the same treatment if Taylor punches her way to revenge in the closing minutes of Saturday night. Trust me, there is far more at stake for Cameron than her undisputed baubles.

But Cameron seems different, and even though Taylor will give even more of herself than she did in May, the champion will yet again silence those passionate Irish fans. I think Cameron wins again, and even though I wouldn’t totally rule out an unlikely stoppage victory, another win on points seems the more likely option. If Cameron does win again, the hope is that the respect and recognition that she so richly deserves finally comes her way. It needs to.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing